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Report on: "Federated Searching: Digital Promise, Digital Reality"
North Smithville, RI Report by: Bridget Rawding - Merrimack College and Janice Schuster - Providence College |
| February 4, 2005 |
Federated Searching: Digital Promise, Digital Reality
Introductions
Colleen Anderson, president of ACRL/NEC and a former chair of ITIG, welcomed the attendees and mentioned that the annual spring meeting of ACRL/NEC will be held on Friday, May 20, at Rivier College in Nashua, NH. She also noted that ACRL/NEC is seeking nominations for librarian of the year. Melissa Behney, Chair of ITIG, then welcomed the participants and introduced the speakers.
Federated Searching and Managing a Product Implementation
Presented by: Christine Turner, Electronic Resources Librarian, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Melissa Watterworth, Curator of Literary and Natural History Collections, University of Connecticut
Five College Libraries MetaLib Implementation
Christine Turner serves as both Electronic Resources Librarian at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and as project manager for the Five College implementation of the federated search tool, MetaLib. She began her presentation with an overview of federated searching, and provided the following working definition of federated searching:
"Through a single entry point simultaneously searching multiple resources (library catalogs, databases, web sites) from disparate vendors, platforms, protocols, and sources, and delivering an integrated set of results."
Federated searching is also known as: broadcast searching, metasearching, parallel searching, etc. For examples and vendors, Turner suggested visiting the Library of Congress' Portals Applications Issues Group at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/lcpaig/paig.html. The "backbone" of federated searching is having a common standard, such as Z39.50, HTTP Screen Scraping, or proprietary API's. Currently under development are new standards such as XML based protocol and SRW/U (Search/Retrieve Web/URL Service).
Ms. Turner then went on to describe the experience of implementing MetaLib for the Five College Libraries (Amherst College; Hampshire College; Mt. Holyoke College; Smith College; and UMass-Amherst). The driving forces behind the implementation were the Five College Librarians' Council (FCLC) and the Digital Environment Development & Coordinating Committee. Through late 2002 and early 2003, they began reviewing link-resolver and federated searching products, and viewed product demonstrations of several different vendor products, such as ENCompass, MetaLib and MetaFind. In spring 2003, the FCLC signed a 3 year contract for SFX/MetaLib.
During the preparation and planning phase in spring 2004, they grappled with many questions, including:
Two significant decisions they faced were whether to go with the current release or start training on a new release, and also whether to host installations locally or let ExLibris host them. Ultimately, they decided to train on the new release, which led to some "bleeding edge" issues they might not otherwise have encountered. It was also decided to let ExLibris host the installations, which had its advantages, but also led to some delays in communication and implementation.
While there have been setbacks along the way, and it has been time-consuming to resolve the bugs, they were able to customized features and they are continually testing, adjusting, installing upgrades, etc. They are currently working on end-user documentation and plan to do a full roll-out to users.
For more information about this project, visit their Implementation Site at:
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/staff/fivecoll/exlibris/metalib.htm.
View Christine Turner's presentation:
Bits About Federated Searching, and ...
Managing the Five College Libraries' Implementation
Connecticut History Online
Melissa Watterworth is the Curator of Literary and Natural History Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut. She reported on her experiences in Archives and Special Collections at the University of Connecticut as Project Coordinator for Connecticut History Online (CHO), using ENCompass.
Ms. Watterworth began with an overview of the Connecticut History Online project, which has been in existence for about five years. Connecticut is a small state, with many local historical societies but little precedent for cooperation among them. In 1999, the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut, Mystic Seaport, and the New Haven Colony Historical Society came together to apply for a grant to enhance the use of materials by merging their collections into one search and delivery system. That grant provided the support for the CHO Phase 1 (1999-2001); they received a second grant to support CHO Phase 2 (2002-2004, extended to 2005), which also included the Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut State Library.
They chose ENCompass for Digital Collections (EDC) as their federated searching provider, since it was flexible and could store extensive data sets. When planning an implementation, things to consider include: training; configuring data repositories, establishing/refining cataloging workflows; testing the product; designing the public interface, and planning for both the "quiet" and the "public" rollout of the product. Their successes included the ability to quickly familiarize themselves with the cataloging client; they developed a cataloging manual that has become a resource to be used by other institutions with similar projects; and they shared their expertise in order to make the service work.
Among the lessons they learned from the implementation were: the need to identify goals and expected outcomes for technology at the outset; the importance of identifying what "buy-in" means for each institution; the value of a team approach to implementing the system; and the need to develop better norms for working with vendors.
Christine Turner serves as both Electronic Resources Librarian at University of Massachusetts Amherst and project manager for the Five College implementation of the federated search tool, MetaLib. Christine first joined UMass Amherst in August 1999 to lead the start-up and development of the Statewide Business and Economic Development Specialized Reference Services, the centerpiece of which was the web portal MassBedrock. Christine earned a master's degree in management from Lesley University, a master's degree in library and information science from Simmons College, and a bachelor of arts in English from Connecticut College.
Melissa Watterworth accepted the position of Curator of Literary and Natural History Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center in November 2004. One year earlier, she joined the staff of Archives & Special Collections at the University of Connecticut as Project Coordinator for Connecticut History Online. Prior to her coming to Connecticut, she served as Technical Archivist in Special Collections and Archives at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. Melissa holds an MLIS and MA from Simmons College.
The Endgame: User Benefits and Challenges: A Report from the Trenches
Presented by: Susan Edwards, Internet/Documents Librarian, Amherst College
Susan Edwards is the Internet/Documents Librarian at Amherst College and represents user services on the Amherst College MetaLib Implementation Team. She reported on her own observations of user attitudes, and has found that users dislike the same things as librarians when it comes to searching electronic resources: they are concerned about lack of privacy, and they don't like finding information that is out of date, inaccurate, or otherwise not useful. They also tend to use search engines and course-specific pages to try to simplify information retrieval.
However, despite these similarities, students and faculty are not using the library's electronic resources in the way librarians might expect. Edwards cited Eric Novotny's article in College and Research Library News, "I don't think, I click," which makes some perhaps surprising observations of user behaviors. For instance, students tend to do phrase searching, and they will drop a term altogether before they try alternative synonyms. They expect relevancy ranking, and will give up if they don't find something right away. Even serious scholars are inclined to choose the information more readily available over that which is most appropriate for their research.
Based on these findings, Edwards proposed some ways librarians can create a more user-centered library. Usability testing is critical to meeting this goal. Librarians think about information quite differently from their users, so simple, early, frequent usability testing is essential to successful new initiatives, such as a federated searching project. Librarians object to federated searching for many reasons, including that it "dumbs down" the search interface, it can privilege particular databases, which may not be the best choices, and there are issues with relevancy ranking and de-duping. However, federated searching often allows for the creation of "Quick Sets" and categories of resources. For instance, librarians could create a single cluster of "Least Used Gems" to spotlight those databases with which users might be less familiar.
Ms. Edwards noted that despite librarian concerns, our users are eager to try this, and are far less concerned about the current glitches. Usability testing at Amherst College revealed that students want the "top 3" databases to be listed at the top of the home page, for example. For some undergraduate research, this may indeed be sufficient, so perhaps librarians should be providing that ease of use. Edwards pointed out that federated searching does not have to be the only point of access to resources. It is but one way we can help our users successfully navigate the array of database, e-journal, and e-book choices which are available to them.
View Susan Edwards' presentation:
The Endgame: User Benefits and Challenges
Susan Edwards is Internet/Documents Librarian at Amherst College and represents user services on the Amherst College MetaLib Implementation Team. She has over 20 years experience in reference, working with students and faculty to find information; and for the last 10 years has had responsibility for the organization and content of the library website, including conducting usability studies.
Integration in Real Time
Presented by: Leah Prescott, Manuscript and Archives Librarian, Mystic Seaport Museum
Leah Prescott is the Manuscript and Archives Librarian as well as Collections Information Technology Coordinator at Mystic Seaport Museum. In addition to other duties, Leah also oversees the administration of the Library and Curatorial management systems. She is responsible for coordinating and implementing data standards across Mystic Seaport, and integration of library and curatorial data using ENCompass.
Ms. Prescott explained that Mystic Seaport has been moving steadily towards integrated access to all of its collections (library, curatorial, manuscript) for the past decade. In 1994 they identified the need to "create a new entrance to Mystic Seaport through which people can explore the Seaport's collection." At the time, the curatorial department was using a homegrown electronic cataloging system, while the library had a card catalog. They knew they would need one system, but that wasn't feasible, due to the difficulty of finding one system to effectively describe both bibliographic information and three-dimensional objects. They decided to approach this project with two different systems that could be integrated through federated searching.
In 1997, they received a grant that enabled them to purchase Endeavor Voyager for bibliographic information, and they also purchased MIMSY from Willoughby for the curatorial collections. As ENCompass began to move more toward federated searching development, the museum decided to use it as their federated search system.
The goal is to enable visitors to the Seaport, both onsite and online, to search live data across all three areas (library, curatorial, and manuscript) with a single search. In addition, visitors also will have search and browse access to digital collections that have been assembled by museum staff. Prescott proceeded to demonstrate these search and browse capabilities.
The working prototype, which is still in rough form, is available at:
http://www.mysticseaport.org.
Leah Prescott is the Manuscript and Archives Librarian as well as Collections Information Technology Coordinator at Mystic Seaport Museum. Leah supervises the Manuscripts, Charts/Maps, and Sound Archives collections of the G.W. Blunt White Library, and the corporate archives of Mystic Seaport, and also oversees the administration of the Library and Curatorial management systems. She is responsible for coordinating and implementing data standards across Mystic Seaport, and integration of library and curatorial data using ENCompass. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Connecticut and Masters of Library Science from Syracuse University.
MetaQuest@BC: Technical considerations in implementing and supporting a federated search system over time.
Presented by: Bob Gerrity, Head of Systems, Boston College
Bob Gerrity, Head of Systems for the Boston College Libraries, provided an overview of the implementation of MetaQuest, Boston College's federated searching system, which is built on ExLibris's MetaLib platform. The name of the service comes from their online catalog, Quest. They identified the need for improved access and management tools for their electronic resources as part of their preparation to join the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).
Initially launched in 2002, MetaLib has already been through a few different incarnations. The first two versions were designed in a strictly organized approach to research, but they found their users do not approach research in such a rigid manner. The newest version, which will launch in about six weeks, presents a much more modular, task-oriented approach to research.
Maintenance and support of the system requires the work of systems staff (hardware maintenance/support; system and database management; half-time staff person dedicated to MetaLib); reference staff (project planning; publicity; training; user support; troubleshooting; configuring of new resources; liaison with subscription agents and publishers); and technical services staff (ERM data entry and maintenance). The hiring of additional staff to support and maintain this initiative has been crucial to its success.
Mr. Gerrity reiterated what earlier speakers had pointed out: federated searching is but one component of providing access to resources - some users still go to the catalog, and the Quest catalog still includes all print and electronic resources to accommodate this research approach. Different information needs are best met by different methods, so institutions should provide multiple paths to their resources. It is a positive trend that libraries are focusing attention on e-resources management issues.
Bob Gerrity's powerpoint presentation:
Maintaining a federated search engine over time.
Bob Gerrity has been Head of Systems for the Boston College Libraries since 1999, with responsibilities for the implementation and support of BC's primary library systems, such as ALEPH, MetaLib, SFX, DigiTool, and, most recently, the campus Institutional Repository, http://eScholarship.bc.edu. Previous positions include Coordinator of the Metro Boston Library Network and product analyst at CLSI. Bob has an undergraduate degree in journalism from Boston University and an MLIS from SUNY/Albany.
Resource List by Christine Turner
General:
Usability:
Report by:
Bridget Rawding
Head of Public Services
Merrimack College
North Andover, MA.
bridget.rawding@merrimack.edu
and
Janice Schuster
Reference Services
Providence College
Providence RI
jschustr@providence.edu
Comments Welcome!
© Copyright 1999-2005, ITIG ACRL/NEC Information Technology Interest Group. All Rights Reserved.
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